Wager
by kitkat113
Summary: A run in with a fox demon leaves Hiei at a disadvantage. How did he get manipulated into this? three-shot Hiei centric fic with hints of Hiei/kag toward the end.
1. Bet Please

AN: Recently I've been getting back into fanfic in particular some of the pairings that sparked my interest in the first place. After going through some old files of stories I started I figured I might as well post one or two of the mostly done ones. This was the most complete but it's a little rough so please forgive any errors or ambiguity of plot. I had planned it as a three shot but I guess I'll see what it terns into after I pull together the already written bits of the next two chapters. Hope you enjoy.

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Bet Please

The dimly lit bar was noisy and crowed, two things he hated. How he had let the fox talk him into this little outing was beyond him. As if aware of his train of thought Kurama moved from the nearby table to stand next him. "Why don't you join us Hiei. There is no need to sulk against the wall when you could be spending time with friends."

Snorting in reaction to the idea that he would sulk, Hiei's eyes moved to look at his former teammate. "I do not sulk." Once again directing his gaze at the table of rowdy comrades Hiei sneered in disgust. "I simply have no need to participate in that."

Following his friend's gaze Kurama allowed the amusement to show in his features. "They are only having a bit of fun Hiei. It would do you good to find some of the same." With that he pushed off the wall and headed back to rejoin his other friends all the while feeling the little fire demons eyes on him as he moved.

Once Kurama had reseated himself at the table Hiei once again surveyed the bar. It was poorly maintained with small round tables crowed near each other around its perimeter. The obvious focus in the room was the large protruding double sided bar manned by a few scantily clad females. The rowdy women being the obvious draw to the establishment with their suggestive clothing and occasional bar top dancing. He had to at least give them a little credit for the way they manhandled any patron who got to close, as this wasn't the type of place where anything but drinks were for sale. Hiei could only assume that the possibility of violence from the bartenders only added to both the bar and bartenders appeal. Redirecting his attention back to his _friends_ he once again had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Yusuke and Chu were currently trying to out drink the other with both Jin and Riku acting as there respective cheerleaders. Shishiwakimaru was attempting to charm a pair of wolf demonesses a bit closer to the bar while Toyu and Kurama were seemingly debating the likelihood of his success.

Just as Hiei had about had it with this whole excursion and was about to make an unannounced exit, a fox demon moved to lean against the wall next to him. Instead of addressing him as would be expected the demon simply looked off into the bar teal eyes scanning over the crowd not even acknowledging Hiei's presence. After a few moments of waiting to see what the fox would do Hiei grew agitated with the silence. Gritting his teeth as he bit out the words intended to get the demon to leave Hiei wished he had not been forced to check his sword at the door. "I suggest you go enjoy the view from some other wall." The reaction he got doing nothing to calm his now very agitated nerves.

The fox demon gave Hiei a sideways glance and frowned a little before responding to Hiei's subtle threat. "Not very sociable are you?"

At this Hiei fisted his hands tightly trying to determine if there would be any down side to violating the bars no fighting policy. Before he could make a rather menacing threat to the fox's life the unfamiliar demon shifted his gaze to the table his friends were seated at and continued his unwelcome intrusion. "Those must be your friends. Interesting bunch. I've seen them in a here a few times before. Not you though. This your first visit?"

Hiei was a little taken aback. Was this demon really trying to make small talk? With him? Regardless he was not interested in the demons company if he had wanted to engage in conversation he would have joined Kurama and the others at the table. "I'm not interested in making new _friends_ if that's what your pointless chatter is meant to do. Why don't you go bug some other unfortunate bastard?"

To Hiei's surprise instead of leaving him in peace the fox demon burst into quiet laughter. "You are an interesting guy I'll give you that. As for _bugging_ someone else I'm afraid you are the only one in my bar who doesn't seem to be having fun, making you the only patron I need to worry about."

That statement had gotten Hiei's attention. "You are the owner of _this_ establishment?"

The fox looked at him directly this time in an almost patronizing way. "I believe that is what I just said. Not very bright either I see?"

Hiei glared. Did he really just insult him? "Seems your hospitality leaves much to be desired if all you can offer is disparaging comments barely disguised as observations." His friends completely forgotten, the unfamiliar fox now had his full attention.

Surprisingly the bar owner seem completely unfazed by the murderous look he was receiving from the short fire apparition. He simply looked at Hiei with a falsely concerned expression on his face. "Hmm. Seems you are correct on that. Guess I'm going to have to come up with something different if the drinks and the girls don't do it for you." He began rubbing his chin, as he seemed to consider the situation. Hiei only continued to glare not as all amused by the owners antics.

Just as Hiei was about to tell the fox the get the hell out of his face the owner snapped his fingers and once again directed his full attention to Hiei. "I know. I have just the thing for a personality of your type. A challenge!"

Hiei scoffed unable to hold back his reaction to such a ridiculous idea. "You can't be serious? You? Challenge me? What makes you think you or anything you come up with could possible interest me?" Glaring once again "You would be better off removing yourself from my presence."

At this the owner pushed of the wall he was leaning against and began to turn away seemly acquiescing to Hiei's request. "Sure. Sure. I get it. Not every demon is up for a challenge. My mistake." At that he began walking away heading toward the opposite side of the bar.

Hiei twitched. _Did he just? That bastard._ Gritting his teeth willing himself not to take the bait with no success. Hiei moved to follow easily spotting the auburn ponytail of the fox demon as it disappeared down a back hallway. Once he caught up, the fox looked at him with knowing eyes. "So you are interested? In that case follow me."

The fox turned and continued down the hall into a mostly empty back room. There was little of any interest in the room with the exception of a small display pedestal centered along the furthest wall. An old sword rested on top. The fox turned to look at him. "Would you care to make a wager?"

Hiei eyed the fox suspiciously. He had been around Kurama long enough to know that this fox was up to something. Foxes are after all a deceptive breed. "I think not."

Deciding this had been a bad idea he turned and headed for the door. The words said by the other occupant of the room stopping him. "Not confident you would win?"

Once again turning to glare at the owner Hiei responded. "As if I would loose."

The foxed smirked knowing he had him. "Really? In that case I'll bet I can see to it that you are defeated by a sword."


	2. Reluctant

AN: This chapter was a little rougher then the last. I tried to get rid of the spelling in grammatical errors before posting. Hopefully I didn't miss to many. Thanks to my reviewers on the first chapter. I really wasn't sure how many readers there still were for this fandom.

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Reluctant

How had this happened? Hiei was fuming from his position on a tree branch. Of all the troublesome things he could have been pulled into this was ridiculous. And now he found himself hanging around Genkai's temple trying to figure a way out. He should have known better then to be baited so easily by a fox.

Speaking of, this was all Kurama's fault turning to glare in the direction of his former teammates. The fox sitting calmly with the girls, watching with humor in his eyes as Yusuke and Kuwabara roll around over some pointless argument. If the Redhead had not insisted he accompany the dark tournament veterans to that damn bar none of this would have happened.

Hiei's glare only intensified, as if willing the seemingly unaware fox to feel responsibility for his current predicament.

If it weren't for him he would have never run into the other fox. He would have never been drawn into starting that conversation. He would have never been tricked into agreeing to that damn bet. And most importantly he would have never _lost_. If possible he glared even harder, his foul mood radiating out from his treetop perch.

"Damit Hiei!" The former detectives words cut through his thoughts. "Would you cut it out already? Even I can feel that bad attitude of yours and its getting old."

The idiot never one to let Yusuke do all the talking voiced his thoughts as well. "Yea shorty, what's with you? You've been all pissy since you got back from the demon world. You get dumped by a girl or something?"

Not interested in discussing his problems Hiei responded with a glare.

"Don't pay him to much attention." The redhead adding to the conversation, and as a result drawing attention momentarily away from Hiei. Much to Hiei's relief. If only he had stopped after the first statement. "I'm sure Hiei is just anxious awaiting his date tomorrow."

" _Date?!"_

That had done it. All parties present were now fully focused on Hiei. As Hiei griped the hilt of his sword tight, all he could think was this was defiantly the damn fox's fault. Now the only question was which fox was he going to run through first.

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If he though this situation couldn't be any worse he was wrong. After Kurama made his situation known to the rest of their group the former detective and the oaf had been unbearable. He knew he should have never discussed the terms of the bet with the redhead, after all it was a fox who was to blame for this whole mess in the first place. But who better then a fox to help get him out of an agreement with another of his kind. Apparently Kurama had no intention of helping. As made all the more obvious by the current conversation.

"Come now Hiei we really must be going if we are to get you to the shrine on time. You mustn't be late to your date. That wouldn't be polite." Hiei's only response to the redhead was to continue glaring from his position in the same tree as the day before.

Seeing Kurama's struggle and no doubt feeling somewhat guilty for anything they may have said contributing to the fire demons reluctance, Yusuke and Kuwabara attempted to provide some encouragement. "Come on Hiei. It won't be that bad. Maybe this chick will be hot?"

"Yea shorty! Just take her for ice cream or something. Girls like that." At Kuwabara's comment Yusuke couldn't help himself turning to look at the taller male. "Like you know what girls like?"

That one comment was enough to have Kuwabara jumping to glare down at the detective. "I do to know what girls like."

For once Yusuke passed on the chance at a fight, likely deciding getting Hiei out of the tree held more importance. "Yea. Yea. If you say so. Anyways I can't really see Hiei hanging out with some chick licking an ice cream cone." With that he turned his attention back on the fire demon. "You got to come down sometime. Might as well do it now and get it over with before this thing gets worse." Hiei continued to ignore them.

Sighing audibly Kurama tried again. "It's not like you to not to keep your word Hiei. You made an agreement and you should follow through with it." Hiei was beyond irritated at this point turning the full weight of his glare on his friend. After all this was all his fault.

"I don't care what I promised in that stupid bet. I. AM. NOT. GOING."


	3. Who Says I'm Not Pretty

AN: Here is the last chapter. Hope yall enjoyed the story. Would love to know how interested people still are in this pairing so take a min to review. I'm trying to decide if it is worth it to take the time to finish up any of the other stories I started a while back.

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Who Says I'm Not Pretty

Standing at the base of a rather long set of shrine steps, Hiei could only look up and wonder how he could be so unlucky. Taking a deep breath he prepared himself to continue up and for what waited at the top. This whole situation was completely ridiculous.

As if feeling his thoughts his unwanted entourage decided to offer words of encouragement. "This could be good for you Hiei. Perhaps you will like this girl. After all it seems she in well acquainted with demons and a priestess would certainly be a strong companion."

Hiei barely spared Kurama a glace. _Was he serious?_ _Was the fox actually trying to play matchmaker._ Clearly this was the motivation behind his refusal to help get him out of this situation.

"Man that's a lot of steps. This better be worth it." The grumbling of Yusuke reminding Hiei that all three of his former teammates deemed it necessary to witness his humiliation.

Once again sighing Hiei began his way up the shrine steps trailed by his unwanted company. As he reached the top, the sight before him was not what he expected. A rather lovely dark haired woman was having an argument with the fox demon from the bar.

"How many times do I have to tell you Shippo? I hate blind dates!" Her blue eyes glaring at the fox with intensity that could match his own. Amazingly despite her small stature she made quite an imposing figure causing the taller fox to almost cower before her. Hiei had to admit in this dominant state she was quite attractive.

The fox clearly trying to talk his way out of her wrath whined almost like a child being scolded. "But Kagome." Large teal eyes pleading with her to forgive him. "I didn't mean any harm by it. I really think you will like the little sparkplug. He's got that whole grumpy loner outcast thing you used to go for." Hiei bristled at the word _sparkplug_ obviously a reference to him and not a subtle one judging by the snickering of his unwanted companions.

Undeterred, the women continued to berate the fox for his inconsiderate behavior. Almost seeming to emphasize the finality of her words as her hands came to rest on her hips, her glare intensifying. "You can't keep doing this! I swear this better be the last time!"

By that point Yusuke and Kuwabara's snickering had grown loud enough to draw the attention of the courtyards original occupants. When the blue-eyed women's eyes landed on him her cheeks to seemed to flush slightly in embarrassment at being caught fighting with her fox friend. "Oh!" Her eye scanned over their group landing on him. "You must be Hiei."

He only nodded as she made her way over to them trailed by a now obviously sulking fox. "I'm sorry about all that. I'm Kagome. Its nice to meet you." She stopped just a few feet in front of him offering a reassuring smile. Hiei however was at a loss as to what to say. And for once his usually loud companions were silent providing no help at all. _Bastards!_ They were the ones pushing for him to come here, insisting on following along. The stupid fox could have at least been of some help, either one.

Almost as if she sensed his difficulty with the situation she continued on unfazed by his silence. "I'm sure you are a perfectly nice demon and I'm guessing it wasn't exactly your idea to take me out." She sent a small glare to her friend as she finished that last sentence before returning her gaze back to him. "So…um…I'm going to let you off the hook. For whatever Shippo talked you into. K?"

Hiei's eyes widen in shock. _Was she giving him and out?_ Before he could stop himself he let his thoughts slip through his lips. "You do not wish to hold me to this date?" Instantly regretting his words by the guilty look on her face. _Did he sound disappointed?_

Kagome fidgeted at his question, seeming to be searching for what to say. "Um…well… I actually have somewhere to be." At that she looked at him thoughtfully. Almost as if she was trying to decide the most diplopic way to handle the situation. "I don't mean to be rude. And you and your friends seem nice so if you want to swing by the shrine and hang out or something sometime I don't mind."

She was clearly rambling. Hiei almost laughed. After all his efforts to avoid this very date the girl he was supposed to take out was standing in front of him doing the same. Hiei's body relaxed for possibly the first time since he lost the dammed bet. "Its fine. Do not feel obligated on my account."

The look she gave him held so much gratitude in her eye. "Thank you. I am so sorry about all this." She smiled at him brightly. "You really are a nice guy. I hope I get to run into you and some of your friends some time." She turned to smile at the other as she finished that thought. Yusuke and Kuwabara, for their part trying to regain some composure, after chocking upon hearing her call him a "Nice guy".

"I'm sorry but I have a meeting to get to." Once again turning her attention toward the fox known as Shippo. The expression on her face now far less friendly. "Now no more trouble out of you or I'm going to have to tell Sesshomarau about all of this. I know you don't like us spending so much time together but that's really none of your business."

Her expression instantly warm once back on Hiei and his group. "It really was nice to meet you Hiei." She grabbed his hand, giving it a small squeeze before heading down the steps. He cont to watched her as she disappeared from view.

The woman now gone, all eyes turned to the fox who had started all this. He was still looking in the direction she had gone as he spoke. "Damn. Not pretty enough." Taking a quick glance at Hiei and then to Kurama before shaking his head. "Should have gone with red. Oh well." And with that he turned to walk off leaving the group unattended.

After a moment of awkward silence it was Yusuke who first spoke up. "Well damn. So much for Hiei's date." He rubbed the back of his head casting Hiei an apprising glance trying to gage his reaction not really knowing if the current turn of events was good or bad.

"No fair. She can't just ditch shorty like that and for another guy." Kuwabara being far more direct with his opinion.

"Hiei. Are you sure your ok with this?" Kurama still trying to match make it seemed.

Hiei for his part was back to starring in the direction the girl had gone. Left pondering the strange events that had just occurred a smirk making its way onto his face. "Of course I'm fine with it. She did say to come and visit _whenever_ I want." At this he began walking toward the shrine steps and home. "Besides what good is winning a prize if I am the only one chasing it."

-End-


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